Key hitting, aggression on the basepaths and some shut-down pitching paved the way to victory for Allen Community College’s softball team Tuesday.
Alas, the Red Devils could not sustain their momentum from a 7-1 victory against Iowa Western in Game 2.
The Spartans jumped ahead to an 8-0 lead before Allen rallied. The Red Devils fell short in an 11-5 setback.
“We played well in game 1,” Red Devil head coach Nicole Peters said. “The second one got away from us. We came out a little flat. We had a couple innings where we strung hits together, but we couldn’t push across many runs.”
Allen rallied with two out in the fourth to break a 1-1 deadlock in the opener. Brooklyn Goehring’s line drive single drove in Madisyn Havenstein for a 2-1 ACC lead. She and Kylar Smith then came around to score on Bailee Campbell’s single to push Allen ahead 4-1.
Things really started clicking with another two-out rally in the fifth. Jena Hendrix and Havenstein walked. Pinch runner Paxton Meyer advanced to third on a passed ball, and then scampered home when the catcher’s throw got away from the Southwestern Iowa third baseman. Smith followed with a hit up the middle to drive in Havenstein for a 6-1 advantage.
“We were just trying to take extra bases when we could,” Peters said.
Nowhere was that more evident than in the bottom of the sixth. Campbell walked to lead off the frame. Morgan Collins laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Campbell into scoring position, although Cambpell alertly scrambled all the way to third when the Spartans forgot to cover the bag. Then, before the defense realized what was happening, Campbell darted for home, beating the throw for the final tally.
That was more than enough for starting pitcher Camrynn Yardley, who twice wiggled out of bases-loaded jams in the first four innings before hitting her stride in the middle innings.
Yardley retired nine of the last 10 Southwestern Iowa batters, finishing the complete game while allowing six hits and striking out eight.
“Camrynn does really well on the mound,” Peters said. “She spins the ball really well.”
Goehring laced two hits while Campbell had a single and three RBIs. Collins, Havenstein and Smith also had singles.
COLLINS started on the mound in the nightcap and ran into trouble in the second inning.
“Morgan didn’t do a bad job,” Peters said. “She just gave up a couple of key hits, and we didn’t score in those early innings. That hurt us a little bit.”
A pair of Allen errors didn’t help as the Spartans pushed ahead, 8-0, after 2½ innings.
Campbell kick-started an ACC rally with a two-run triple in the bottom of the third. She came home to score on a Collins grounder to close the gap to 8-3.
